Yan Tianhen was certain that if it was Lin Zhan, he would never choose to abandon him.

　　But…that Ghost Masked Man who saw through his real ident.i.ty from a glance and wanted to take him on as a disciple, was he really someone his biological dad sent over to help?

　　If so, then why didn’t he tell Yan Tianhen the truth and always avoided him?

　　If not, then why teach him those cultivation techniques suitable for him, and even secretly help him?

　　After thinking about it, Yan Tianhen nodded. “If I have a chance to see Ghost Masked Man next time, I’ll ask him.”

　　Feng Jingyu’s eyes twinkled as he took note of the address “Ghost Masked Man” in his heart.

　　In Lin Xuanzhi’s room.

　　“To think that that kid’s ident.i.ty is actually a successor to the Qianyuan dynasty.” Soul Bead sighed, “I should have guessed this when I heard that his surname was Yan, but I didn’t think that he, someone living in the Five Continents, would have something to do with the Nine Lands.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi was also restless. He drank three cups of cold tea in a row and barely managed to calm himself.

　　The wave after wave of news made even an old soul like him who had lived for a thousand years feel somewhat surprised and a little unable to bear it, but even so, Lin Xuanzhi’s brain wasn’t muddled either.

　　“Yan is not a common surname.” Lin Xuanzhi noted.

　　“No kidding. In the Nine Lands, there is only one family with the surname of Yan. But it’s also nothing much; the Yan family isn’t the only royal family to reach the top of an era.”

　　Soul Bead tilted its head as he continued, “When I was alive, the royal family sitting on the throne of the Qianyuan dynasty was the Xuan family. However, the Xuan family suffered disastrous losses during the ancient Great Immortal-Demon War. The Xuan family’s most powerful prince at that time sacrificed himself to activate the array that sealed the Devil Emperor, his soul dissipating into nothingness. Thus, the Xuan family lost the throne after that. As for the events that happened afterward, I’m not clear on those.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi asked vaguely, “Can descendants of Divine Devils become the monarch ruling over the Purple Emperor’s Heavenly Capital?”

　　After a long silence, Soul Bead replied, “There is no precedent because the Nine Celestial Families and the Divine Devil clan have always been mortal enemies; it would already be a miracle if the two sides didn’t start fighting when they met each other. How can such enemies easily link together and give birth to descendants? Your Didi’s bloodline is probably the first person in ten thousand years.”

　　If there was no precedent, then things would be troublesome.

　　But in other words, since those eccentric fellows from the family of prophets gave Yan Tianhen a legitimate successor ranking, that meant that he was still a successor recognized by the Dao of Heaven.

　　Soul Bead said leisurely, rejoicing in others’ misfortunes, “Interesting, this is really interesting. “Benzun”“This Venerable”[tn] really wants to see with my own eyes what kind of expression those successors would make when they find out they’ll have to be on equal footing with a half-devil heir. Thinking about it, it must be a — very enjoyable sight.”

　　If Yan Tianhen really slaughtered his way back to the Royal Heavenly Capital in the future to fight for the throne, it would be even more interesting.

　　Soul Bead thought about it and felt that this was much more interesting than his era.

　　Soul Bead laughed for a while, overjoyed, then heard Lin Xuanzhi’s calm voice, “Besides fighting for the throne, is there any other path?”

　　“Why do you need to ask me when you’re clear in your heart?” Soul Bead cooly responded.

　　Lin Xuanzhi let out a long sigh in his heart.

　　Soul Bead couldn’t help saying, “Speaking of which, this kid is also pretty unlucky. If he was only a half-devil, people will forget him if he doesn’t fight over the throne, but who let him be an exceptional furnace as well? You’ll see. I’m afraid that there are many people who want him.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi’s heart felt cold.

　　The biggest secret on Yan Tianhen wasn’t his background, but his const.i.tution.

　　In the last life, Yan Tianhen died due to this const.i.tution of his.

　　Therefore, in this life, Lin Xuanzhi had always been vigilant, afraid that someone would detect this secret — however, things turned out contrary to his wishes. In the Nine Lands, Yan Tianhen being an exceptional furnace had already become widely known.

　　This feeling was really too disgusting.

　　A furnace const.i.tution was a natural vessel for dual cultivation.

　　And adding an “exceptional” in front of it meant that as long as someone dual cultivated with him, even against Ah Hen’s will, that person could still obtain immeasurable benefits.

　　For cultivators, this held much more attraction than medicinal pills or magic treasures.

　　When Lin Xuanzhi thought about how there were so many people coveting and thinking about his Ah Hen, his mood became gloomy. He dearly wished that he could dismember those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds’ corpses into ten thousand pieces and scatter their souls so that they would never be able to enter the cycle of reincarnation again.

　　Soul Bead saw Lin Xuanzhi’s increasingly gloomier thoughts and couldn’t stop himself from advising, “Kid, you don’t have to worry too much right now, those people probably won’t be able to find Yan Tianhen’s whereabouts so easily in a few years. What you should do is take advantage of these precious few years to quickly improve your cultivation. Hurry up and make connections with the families you should network with and quickly find the backers or golden thighs that you should find. It’s useless to be dispirited.”

　　“I know.” Lin Xuanzhi responded calmly, but his hand beneath his sleeve was clenched tight.

　　Yan Tianhen straightened out his mood only after making threats and promises to Feng Jingyu. Satisfied, he came to Lin Xuanzhi’s room.

　　As soon as he entered the door, Yan Tianhen once again became that timid, naive, and simple foolish little brother who was ignorant of everything.

　　When Lin Xuanzhi saw Yan Tianhen’s expression, which looked like a frightened rabbit, his heart immediately melted into a soft mess.

　　He beckoned with his hand for Yan Tianhen to come over and held Yan Tianhen on his leg, soothing him slowly, “Ah Hen, it’s Dage’s fault for letting you hear these unpleasant matters today, but since you heard them, I want to ask what Ah Hen thinks in his heart.”